Aprea Presents Preclinical Data at AACR

Aprea AB has presented preclinical data at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting in Washington, DC, USA.

The results from these studies show that Aprea’s lead candidate APR-246, a compound that reactivates mutant p53, acts synergistically with platinum compounds.

Aprea, which is part of the Karolinska Development portfolio, is now preparing a Phase II study with APR-246 in platinum resistant ovarian cancer.

The title of Aprea’s poster presentation at AACR was “Strong synergistic effects with cisplatin and APR-246, a novel compound reactivating mutant p53, in ovarian cancer cell lines and primary cells from patients”.

In the studies, the anticancer effect of APR-246 alone, and in combination with platinum compounds, on ovarian cancer cells were investigated.

The results show that APR-246 acts synergistically with platinum compounds and reverses the cisplatin-sensitivity to cisplatin-resistant p53 mutant ovarian cancer cells.

Aberrations in p53 are common in many cancer forms and are associated with increased resistance to standard chemotherapy resulting in a poor prognosis for the patient. About 60% of ovarian cancer patients have p53 mutations.

Mikael von Euler, CMO of Aprea, commented; “We are very pleased with this comprehensive set of preclinical data supporting our planned Phase II study in platinum-resistant Epithelial Ovarian Cancer (EOC) patients who are candidates for further platinum-based chemotherapy. APR-246 has the potential to be an important new treatment for these patients with high unmet medical need”.